Kewadin Casinos welcomes back B.B. King

Sunday

Dec 23, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Throughout the 1990s as well as the 1980s, 1970s, 1960’s and 1950s, there has been only one King of the Blues — Riley B. King, affectionately known as B.B. King, and he’s coming to Kewadin’s DreamMakers Theater Thursday, April 4 at 7 p.m.

Since B.B. started recording in the late 1940s, he has released over 60 albums many of them considered blues classics, like 1965’s definitive live blues album “Live At The Regal,” and 1976’s collaboration with Bobby “Blue” Bland, “Together For The First Time.”

Over the years, B.B. has had two number one R & B hits, 1951’s “Three O’Clock Blues,” and 1952’s “You Don’t Know Me.”

B.B. King, as well as the entire blues genre, is not radio-oriented. His classic songs such as “Payin’ The Cost To Be The Boss,” “Caldonia,” “ How Blue Can You Get,” “Everyday I Have The Blues,” and “Why I Sing The Blues,” are concert (and fan) staples.

B.B.’s technique is nonetheless complex, featuring delicate filigrees of single string runs punctuated by loud chords, subtle vibratos, and “bent” notes. The technique of rock guitar playing is to a large degree derived from B.B.’s playing.

Over the years, B.B. has developed one of the world’s most readily identified guitar styles. He borrowed from Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise vocal like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist’s vocabulary.

B.B. King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. B.B. was the recipient of the 1986 National Association For Campus Activities Hall of Fame Award. B.B. was Blues Act of the Year in 1985, 1987, and 1988 Performance Award Polls.

He is a founding member of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center.

B.B. Has received four honorary doctorates: Tougaloo (Mississippi) College (L.H.D.) in 1973; Yale University (D. Music) in 1977; Berklee College of Music (D. Music) in 1982; and Rhodes College of Memphis (D. Fine Arts) in 1990. In 1992, he received the National Award of Distinction from the University of Mississippi.

To learn more about The King of the Blues, visit www.bbking.com and www.bbkingfanclub.net